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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Halloween: Marshmallow Pumpkin and Monster Treats

I am a huge Halloween fan. It's great to suspend reality for a while and enjoy the land of make-believe. Halloween is made for children, and now that I have two of my own, I enjoy watching them experience the magic for themselves. Unfortunately, when food restrictions like being gluten free get thrown into the mix, some of those traditional Halloween treats are suddenly off-limits.

I refuse to let my son feel as though he's missing out on anything because of an ingredient, so we just go ahead and make our own Halloween treats that any kid would love. My sister is throwing a child-friendly Halloween party next weekend, and I'll be making these treats and more to contribute to the festivities. I prefer to make treats that my kid can help with, and these fit the bill.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I love making treats with marshmallows. They're easy to work with, and don't require any special ingredients or complicated recipes to turn them into something special. I also like how when I turn them into pops, there's portion control built in. Hand a kid a bag of marshmallows and they'll probably eat handfuls. Hand them a marshmallow pop and it's a serving in itself.

I'll be adding more Halloween treat recipes to the blog in the coming days as I make treats for the party, so check back often.

You will need somewhere for the pops to dry. I bought an inexpensive stand made of cardboard for that purpose, but you could just stand them up in cups, as long as they don't touch each other while drying.

Directions

1- Place lollipop sticks into marshmallows until secure.

2- Place some candy melts into a glass or ceramic bowl. The amount you use will depend on how many marshmallows you make. I start with a few handfuls and then melt more as needed. They harden as they cool, so it makes them easier to work with. Microwave melts on high in 20 second intervals, stirring to check if they are melted. I work with one colour at a time for simplicity.

3- Dip a marshmallow in the melted candy melts, turning to coat. Use a spoon or a butter knife to help coat completely. Place marshmallow in stand to dry. Continue with the rest.

4- Once pops are dry, which only takes a few minutes, they are ready to decorate.

Pumpkins:

-With black icing, carefully draw on the face shapes for the pumpkins. I sometimes find the icing too thick directly from the tube, so I pour a little on a plate and use a toothpick dipped in icing to draw the faces.

-With brown icing, create the stem of the pumpkin by creating a small swirl straight from the tube.

Let dry.

Monsters:

- With black icing, carefully draw on the faces of the monsters. I sometimes find the icing too thick directly from the tube, so I pour a little on a plate and use a toothpick dipped in icing to draw the faces.

-Use black icing directly from the tube to draw the hair and the Frankenstein-style knobs at the sides.

Let dry.

These can be kept at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge. Wrapped in cellophane, they are easily portable and make cute Halloween treats for the kids in your life. Adults too!

Display them in Halloween-themed containers, or like I did in the photo above, in Mason Jars filled with lentils or dried beans.

There are so many variations that could be made. Have fun and send me your pictures at celiacbaby@hotmail.com so I can share them on the site!